Poll: 59% want election invalidated

Almost 60% of people polled thought the Feb 2 election should be nullified and more than half of them agreed the caretaker premier should step down to allow the appointment of an impartial prime minister, Nida Poll said on Friday.

Published: 07/02/2014 at 12:00 PM

Writer: Online Reporters

The pollster at the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) said the finding was based on interviews with 1,259 people nationwide between Feb 5 and 6.

Asked why only 46.7% of eligible voters nationwide turned out to vote in the Feb 2 polls, 24.16% of the respondents thought it was because the people were unhappy with current politics and the election system, 23.86% of them believe the people were fed up with politics, Nida Poll reported.

Some 21.01% of the sample believed it was because the people opposed the Thaksin regime, 12.97% said the people wanted caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down, 11.93% said it was caused by other reasons -- some polling stations were blocked by anti-government protesters of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), people’s concerns over their safety, people were not free and were busy working in other provinces, and 6.07% were unsure.

Asked who should be held responsible for the unsuccessful holding of the election, 45.92% pointed to the caretaker government, 23.26% said the PDRC, 23.14% blamed the Election Commission, 1.01% said all Thai people and 6.67% had no comment.

Asked whether the election should be voided, 59.25% of the polled people agreed, given that less than 50% of eligible voters turned out, there were no MP candidates in some provinces and there would be too few MPs for the House of Representatives to convene.

However, 20.41% of them disagreed, saying the poll should not be nullified because the votes came from people exercise their voting rights under a democratic system and the election complied with the charter, while 20.34% were unsure.

Asked what the caretaker government should do in the current situation, 55.76% of the respondents said Ms Yingluck should step down to open way for the selection of an impartial prime minister, 21.21% of them said do nothing and continue to work as a caretaker administration.

Only 6.20% wanted the caretaker government to use force to disperse the anti-government protesters, 4.92% said all sides should turn to talks and jointly find a way out of the political crisis, while 11.91% made no comment.